Daniel Burd, a 17-year old high school student in Waterloo, Ontario, successfully found microorganisms in soil that help degrade plastic. After 6 weeks, the isolated micro-organisms broke down 43 percent of a plastic bag. Burd decided to pursue the research after hearing that plastic does break down naturally over hundreds of years. He believed that there must be some organisms that cause the break down, and set out to isolate them specifically. Burd has received a cash prize, a large scholarship and quite a few job offers.

See the full story.